Maryland residents face another massive cleanup after flash flood

ELLICOTT CITY, Md. — After yet another devastating flash flood ripped apart their historic Maryland mill town, hundreds of residents and business owners are again asking themselves: Should I stay or should I go?

Some people in picturesque Ellicott City — established in 1772 as a Patapsco River mill town surrounded by hills — say they’re determined to rebuild after Sunday’s devastation. Their hope: to pull together as a community again after the second terrible flood deluged their downtown in less than two years.

Simon Cortes, owner of La Palapa Grill & Cantina, said Monday it’s “a horrible time,” and his business took on about a foot (30 centimeters) of water. But he says the town has been through it all before, and he’ll do his part to spur another revival.

“I feel like it’s our duty to make sure that we rebuild and open back up,” said Cortes, whose restaurant is right by the spot where a 39-year-old man was swept away by Sunday’s raging floodwaters.

Others are stretched to the breaking point by the floods, which tore up streets and swept away dozens of cars in the quaint downtown of historic 18th and 19th century buildings, which sit in a ravine about 13 miles (20 kilometers) west of Baltimore.

Now the locals face yet another massive cleanup, serious economic losses and a daunting comeback.

Maryland officals held a news conference on Monday to provide the latest developments on the fallout from the flash flood. Video by PBS NewsHour

Sunday’s torrential rains came just as the town seemed to come back stronger than ever from a dreadful July 2016 flash flood that killed two people

Getting flood insurance around old Ellicott City was a pricy proposition before. Now, people don’t even want to think about how much it might cost, on top of the debts they’re still paying from the last time their homes and businesses were destroyed.

Nathan Sowers, owner of the River House Pizza Co., an outdoor eatery in the old mill town’s business district, said that after all the hard work rebuilding from the 2016 flood, he’s feeling a bit overwhelmed at attempting yet another comeback.

“We’ll see. It takes a lot of money and a lot of time, a lot of energy. We’ll just have to assess it,” he said, speaking near a bridge where several crushed cars were swept into a muddy tributary’s banks.

But Sowers said he saw other hard-hit locals laughing and joking about their troubles first thing Monday morning — a good sign the Maryland town will launch yet another rebirth.

Still, people are heartbroken that 39-year-old Eddison Hermond of Severn, Maryland, died in the storm. Crews had been hunting for 39-year- Hermond, since he was reported missing Sunday. On Tuesday afternoon, searchers found him as they scoured the Patapsco River.

Hermond was a 39-year-old veteran of the U.S. Air Force and a sergeant in the Maryland Army National Guard. Police said he was last seen early Sunday evening trying to help a woman who had escaped through a window with her cat while seething brown waters surged through the downtown.

Howard County Police Chief Gary Gardner said the National Guard member and U.S. Air Force veteran had been with a group at the La Palapa Grill & Cantina when a woman approached, desperately trying to rescue her pet just outside.

“He, along with some other folks, went back to assist her and unfortunately during that effort they saw him go under water,” Gardner told reporters.

Ellicott City certainly got the worst of it. But torrential rains led to such bad flooding in Baltimore County, Baltimore City and the capital of Annapolis that Gov. Larry Hogan declared a statewide emergency to better coordinate support and assistance.

Mike Muccilli, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said it was too early to make comparisons between the two devastating floods.

In the July 2016 storm, Ellicott City received 6.6 inches (17 centimeters) of rain over a two- to three-hour period. On Sunday, the community received some 8 inches (20.32 centimeters) of rain over a six-hour period, most of it in an intense, three-hour period, Muccilli said.

“In a normal heavy rain … you wouldn’t see this amount of flooding, where you see cars floating down the road,” the meteorologist said. “This was a true flash flood.”

Associated Press writer Brian Witte contributed from Annapolis, Md.

Left:
Flooding is seen in Ellicott City, Maryland, U.S. May 27, 2018, in this still image from video from social media. Todd Marks via Reuters